by Nicole Auerbach, USA TODAY Sports

by Nicole Auerbach, USA TODAY Sports

You're a better player when you're younger, even if you really aren't. Or at least that's how it seems.

It stems from NBA draft talk - placing a premium on potential and raw talent, the stigma attached to players who need more than one year of college ball before they're pro-ready. It stems from something more inherently human, too - the idea that the new and unknown are somehow more exciting than a proven commodity.

This college basketball season, there has been lots of talk about youth. Andrew Wiggins at Kansas, Jabari Parker at Duke, Julius Randle at Kentucky and Aaron Gordon at Arizona. Tyler Ennis, Syracuse's rock-solid point guard, joined the conversation. Joel Embiid, the rapidly developing 7-footer from Cameroon, entered the chatter surrounding the No. 1 pick in June's NBA draft.

While these freshmen have arguably achieved the impossible - they've played well enough to justify the heaps of hype that accompanied them to college - that's only half the story of the season.

In the so-called Year of the Freshmen, a senior leads the National Player of the Year race: Creighton's Doug McDermott, a two-time All-American.

Senior C.J. Fair leads undefeated and second-ranked Syracuse in scoring, and is in consideration for that award, too. Throw in Connecticut's Shabazz Napier, perhaps the best pure point guard in the country and king of late-game heroics. There are more names - DeAndre Kane, Aaron Craft, Keith Appling, Adreian Payne (when healthy), Chaz Williams, Casey Prather, Russ Smith, Xavier Thames, Lamar Patterson - and those aren't even all of the senior stars who have emerged. Besides, you could dig through a plethora of talent in the sophomore and junior classes, too, from Oklahoma State's Marcus Smart to Arizona's Nick Johnson, two key players on Final Four-caliber teams.

To coaches, or anyone who follows the sport closely, it's not surprising that veteran players are playing well. There's value in experience, in so many ways.

"Everybody always gets excited when talented high school players come into college basketball, and justifiably so," says Creighton coach Greg McDermott, who is also Doug's father. "If you're preparing for your senior season, you're just at a level of preparedness that there's no way a freshman can be there. I don't care how talented he is. He just hasn't been through it. He hasn't experienced it. He hasn't had to face adversity in front of 18,000 people. It's something you have to learn.

"Doug's seen about every defense. He's heard every different kind of chatter from the crowd that you could imagine. You just learn to play through it and block it out. As an 18- or 19-year-old, that's more difficult to do."

Coaches lament what the one-and-done culture has done to the perception and mentality of sophomores, juniors and seniors.

"I don't want them to be disappointed if they're there for a second year," Villanova coach Jay Wright says. Or third or fourth.

Arizona coach Sean Miller had that conversation last season more than once with then-senior Solomon Hill, who was eventually a late first-round draft pick. Hill had told Miller he felt like "damaged goods" - solely because he'd had a four-year career.

That's why a season like this feels different. That's why some folks are celebrating it. Seniors aren't an afterthought or "damaged goods." They're integral parts of national championship-contending teams.

And they're holding their own against these spectacularly talented freshmen. More than that, really: They're sharing the spotlight.

"I think the combination of the two is good," McDermott says. "I think it's great for college basketball to have these talented young players in our game. But I also think it's pretty cool when you have a guy like Shabazz or C.J. or Doug who makes the decision to come back to school and really impacts their team in their senior season."

Nicole Auerbach, a national college basketball writer for USA TODAY Sports, is on Twitter @NicoleAuerbach.